“I would have loved to do so and I would taken that message out to Bavaria, to taken it out to wine producing areas of France.

“I would have said to people ‘look we wish to have as good a relationship as possible based on friendship, based on free trade but not being part of political union. Can you please give your own politicians a kick up the backside to make sure that they allow this to happen?’"

'Nobody asked me'

He added that he would have been successful because he was "the best known" British politician in Europe.

“I could have done it more effectively than probably any other British politician.